Hello Architecture and Design enthusiasts, all Hivers as well!
Today, I will share with you a unique building designed by the famous viennese visual artist named Hundertwasser.
The Hundertwasserhaus....
..... is a residential building located in the 3rd District of Vienna that was designed by viennese artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser in collaboration with architects Josef Kravina and Peter Pelikan. Built between 1983 and 1985 on a 1273 square meter- plot, it has 50 apartments and 37 underground garages. The building is owned by the municipality of Vienna. Visitors can only see the exterior of this building because all apartments are fully occupied by private individuals.
Friedensreich Hundertwasser
Hundertwasser was an Austrian artist ((15 Dec. 1928 – 19 Feb. 2000) and architect who designed his housing projects and buildings according to his beliefs that a structure need not be straight. His real name was Friedrich Stowasser, the Sto is a slavic name which if translated into German means "one hundred or einhundert". His mother was jewish and his father was a Catholic... so as not to be persecuted under the Nazi Regime, he was baptized as a Catholic in 1935 during the Nazi Era.
All of his works are mostly crooked structures he designed according to his concepts and visions. His works became places of interest in the city for its uniqueness and therefore attracted many visitors who wanted to see his projects with their own eyes.
The houses designed by the artists are irregular in forms and were mostly incorporated with greens. We can see boldly colored facade and we can see trees all over the place particularly the roofs. He was a great environmentalist who believed that structures should go hand in hand with nature, which he had proven in his other works in different places and in his home in New Zealand where he lived for a while.
Hundertwasserhaus had been the most prestigious project which Hundertwasser made joyfully and willingly for the municipality of Vienna. It was said that he did not receive any compensation for this project and maybe the reason was because the city officials gave him free hand for the concept of this house and for whatever proposals he had for the builders. According to information from the workers, he was on the construction site every single day during the construction process.
Based on the lease agreement between the tenants and Municipality of Vienna, the tenants have the right to their own window. My interpretation on this is that they were given free-hand to choose the type and design of windows they want.
On the facade of the building, some trees are seen growing from the inside of a roofed terrace/balcony and has been growing further towards the exterior of the flat. Some of the tenants have a one storey flat others have two-storeys. And to be able to build a mini forest on the rooftop of the building, some tons and tons of soil were carried up to fill the intended green spaces.
The Uneven Floor Source
The flat floor is an invention of the architects. It fits engines ̵ not human beings.
People not only have eyes to enjoy the beauty they see and ears to hear melodies and noses to smell nice scents. People also have a sense of touch in their hands and feet.
An uneven and animated floor is the recovery of man's mental equilibrium, of the dignity of man which has been violated in our levelling, unnatural and hostile urban grid system.
The uneven floor becomes a symphony, a melody for the feet and brings back natural vibrations to man.
It is good to walk on uneven floors and regain our human balance. Architecture should elevate and not subdue man...
... Hundertwasser, 1991
The Hundertwasser Village is located vis a vis the Hundertwasserhaus. The building as such had been used as a factory for car tires before it was turned into a village that houses galleries, souvenir shops and restaurants/bars to cater for the visiting tourists. Finished in 1991, the concept was to turn the building into good infrastructures for visitors. The structure of the building remained as it was before, it was just refurbished with some building materials similar to the Hundertwasserhaus concept. Moreover, the rooftop of the Village had been planted with 30 trees and have now grown so lush after 3 decades of its existence.
If you happen to be in/or planning to visit our city, this is a
"must see place"!
The Hundertwasserhaus Vienna
Kegelgasse 37-39
1030 Vienna
Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000)
GIF by @gremayo
[//]:# (!pinmapple 48.207341 lat 16.394804 long Hundertwasserhaus, Vienna, Austrria d3scr)
Images in this post were photographed by the author, except for 3 photos used with corresponding sources.
"must see place"!
Kegelgasse 37-39
1030 Vienna
Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000)
Doing this without compensation truly means he loves his work and is passionate about it. I love the concept, like a concrete jungle. It is truly a sight to behold, aesthetically pleasing to the eyes.
Yeah, this was his prestige project..he had done many buildings like this and this one attracts millions of visitors. Thanks for the visit.
This man knew what he was doing , a doiseño who has been around for decades and is still standing , I read the whole post , even the part that says that each person had their own window , I think the same as you , I guess they decided how to do it and the architect did it .
A very interesting post that shows that many people work, but not all of them do it well, let me explain, nowadays buildings and even roads are inaugurated and very soon they need to be recovered, and buildings collapse very easily, well, I guess in those times CORRUPTION was not very constant like now
You are right about the artist, his designs were very controversial..this building had been a special assignment given by the Municipality to him. One of the two architects J.Kravina refused to do the ground plans because of the structures irregular forms. So the city admins assigned the architect Pelikan to do the job.
In Vienna, it is hard to be corrupt, because once you are discovered of a wrong doing, they will kill your political career. The public structures are often controlled many times and the controllers see to it that all buildings are correctly done. If buildings collapse, the authorities will find all people involved including politicians.
I wish all countries were like that , but in some parts there is a lack of discipline and above all scrutiny , politicians always have the upper hand as they say and make very good profits .
I wish you a happy day and thank you for answering in such a complete way, I really appreciate it
Hello dear @lupega! Thank you for your kind words. Well, Austria might have corruption cases in other forms but we can never know about it unless someone feels he/she is underprivileged or discriminated and sings about it in public. Yeah, the lobbyist (normally retired politicians) always try to be near politicians so they get a good chance of getting positive support for what they are promoting.
I wish you a happy day too! Stay safe.
I love his incoporating nature in the design of his structures, the sight of trees and greeneries right on the buikding.
The mini forest on that building is so nice to see for the eyes..so cool and pleasing.. thanks for dropping by.
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Impressive! The Hundertwasserhaus is such an interestingly peculiar apartment complex dear @mers. Who wouldn't be blown away by its striking architectural features right?
Friedensreich Hundertwasser who was its Architect also aligns with the design principles of another master Architect called Antonio Gaudi (who designed the Sagrada Familia in Spain) who also believed that buildings should not consist of straight lines because of the patterns found in nature. 😊
Of all the architectural details that were presented to you on that particular site, which ones made you scratch your head in wonder and why?
Hello Erne!
Oh yeah, my reply to your last question: the sustainability of balconies, in which
the protruding trees are sticking out of the flat's facade...I was wondering what happens when they grow and grow for decades..will their roots not crack the floor and the walls of the building?
Awesome @mers! Thank you for the excellent observation from your side. Although we can't completely control Mother Nature's continuous growth especially when she interferes with the built environment, there's one effective method that has been used to ensure roots, branches, and other components of trees and foliage are regularly trimmed, redirected, or removed - preventing the ultimate destruction of real estate. This process is called preventive maintenance. Hope that helps. 😊
Thank you for the info....
So beautiful! I love it!
Thank you
🙏🙏🙏
Wow, I love how the building has plants grown on its walls.
Indeed..thanks.
You're welcome (^_*)
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Hahaha...you are right, I forgot to put the word" "hundred" after the "one", it should read one hundred of course. I read the "Sto" in Russian which is equivalent to hundred in English. And my former colleagues who is Russian and the other one from Moldavia confirmed that. So it should read ein hundert of for short hundert". I stand corrected and thanks for taking note.